Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve | College Students' FIRST TIME REACTION! 

It's big in the US also.

I was living in London in 1997, this song reminds me so much of that crazy time. I also associate it with Diana.

This and Wonderwall'

UK is the perfect dull name to sum up the dirge of life in modern English poor areas Uk is a dull lifeless corporate acronym name thats removes all the ancient beauty and diversity of Britain....the thing the Verve rallied against. Great Britain is an old Celtic name...I use that

My condolences

Have you heard the original 60s instrumental by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra? Check it out..you'll love it!

@@karlsinclair9918 If you're recommending the song, it might help to give its title-- "The Last Time"

@@djhrecordhound4391 yeah, I did elsewhere and linked the video below but it must have been allowed. Cheers.

The whole album is fantastic. This is the only song with strings, but the other songs have the same mood.

Same here. Sixty years old and 90+% of my music is from 60s-80s, but I love this.

They have a great song called “Space & Time” 👍

what a perfect metaphor!

What's up John

A merry-go-round is the perfect image for the energy and motion of this song.🎠

the album too!

Every time. EVERY TIME!❤

Their entire collection is pretty amazing

Yup. Must do Drugs Don't Work or Lucky Man next.

Absolutely Yes

Seconded!

I was going to buy the CD online. But before I did I found it for 10p at a church fundraiser. It’s great.

It's been asserted this song's riff was stolen from the Rolling Stones "The Last Time."

The fuck you talking about? The bass literally plays the same one bar the whole song, it doesn't change at all, no fills, no runs, nothing. 3 notes, the whole song.

@@mrsleep0000 I’m talking about the transition fills that you can clearly hear in the back half of the song. If in doubt, take a look at the bass tab.

I agree, criminally underrated. This song will give me goosebumps no matter how many times I hear it. ❤

@@surfrunnerd8457 You're a full-blown idlot.

Nothing slaps you upside the head with your memories like music. 😁 I wish you the very best of them.

I second that. All the best.

Sorry for your loss. I hope you are somehow also able to find comfort in the song. Life is indeed bittersweet.

Amen to that.

I'm sorry to hear that, man... The people we care for never really leave us.

1954 I totally agree with you about the video. It fits perfectly with the song.

Yes, the video is legendary. Based of the iconic and legendary Massive Attack "Unfinished Sympathy" video which came out in 1991.

Little fun fact: The woman being angry about him climbing over her car ist Richard Ashcroft's wife 🙂

@@Sunny-tv5dmA homage to that original video

The orchestral adaptation of The Last Time (inc. the famous violin flourish used in the Verve's sample) was actually composed the Rolling Stones's first manager, Andrew Loog Oldham. He was replaced as their manager by the more business-savvy, Allen Klein who then set about swindling Mick Jagger and Keith Richards out of their songwriting royalties for all of their 1960's songs.

The story i heard is that it was Mick's decision, after his heart attack, to give the band back their rights (as well as all back royalties).

Either way they ripped off the original arrangement and faded into nothing - ever hear of them in the last decade plus? Nope. 1/2 hit wonder since they stole part of the song😂

@@flyingburritobro68 Not really. They actually bought the rights to the sample from the label, not knowing that Klein had acquired the rights. They didn't find out about it until they were sued.

@@Mark-sc9iu they bought the rights to sample, which is like 10 seconds, not to use the whole song. This was not a sample, it was a basically a cover, which Ashcroft them claimed to have written. The Stones said they didn’t care, but the owner of the publishing rights did. That is what got the, sued.

Absolutely the same reaction for me, a fellow Gen Xer!

Great comment. And it reminds me of "The Checks" episode on Seinfeld....when Elaine's new boyfriend is enthralled every time he hears "Desperado" by the Eagles and can't function until it's over. Check it out it's hilarious.

Wow, I’m a boomer who thought she had a passing knowledge of 90’s groups. I thought wrong. I only know three of the bands you mentioned. … Radiohead, Depeche Mode and Oasis. They must have been the monster groups? The rest were second tier?

I was born in 78, the 90's was my era, the last great decade of music, so many bands, so many artists, so many genre's

McCartney's Flaming Pie, which IMO is his best solo album in the last 25 years.

@@helenespaulding7562 They're all first tier, but many different styles. Catherine Wheel is very guitar heavy, The Sundays closer to The Cranberries (but pre-Cranberries), Blur rivaled Oasis in Britpop, and The Chemical Brothers are electronic' big beat' (synths and computers) dance/rave artists. You should try out all the ones Raygun mentions!

@@Skeezer66 I just might. Didn’t mean to imply that others were not excellent. Only that I, as a 50 year old woman at the time who didn’t follow popular music much at all, was aware and had heard the names of those three bands.

oh yeah way better

I bumped into the lead singer in the street the other day

@@chrisshepherd3361 😂

And I bumped into his girlfriend, she weren’t too happy!..

Inspired by "Collective Soul's "The World I Know" ( released 2 yrs prior)? Very similar(even video and lyric concept similar).

Well said. ❤✌

@@jgsrhythm100, it appears you've subsequently backed down from stating this as fact to now owning that any connection between the songs is merely your opinion.

@@jimreadey4837 Shouldn’t you swear the witness in before you start your questions Counselor?

@@sirajaxl, I started to respond that I hadn't asked any question. Then I re-read his comment, and noticed he included a question mark. I move to strike my opening statement and move that we take an hour recess.

I know what you mean. I felt that way with this song and - a decade or two earlier, with The Jam's "That's Entertainment". It's like they've always been there.

@@jamesdignanmusic2765 The impact music has on us is so powerful. This song gives me The Smiths vibes. My favorite band is The Smiths and Morrissey (solo career). Everyone says their music is depressing but I feel like they took sadness and loneliness and elevated into beautiful art. Whenever I’m down, sad or lost I immerse myself in their music and I ALWAYS feel better. And when I’m happy I enjoy it just as much. Morrissey says the things that people think but would never say out loud. He’s an amazing lyricist. “It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind.” The man is a genius! I’m so grateful for the artists that get us through this crazy thing called life.

Inspired by "Collective Soul's "The World I Know" ( released 2 yrs prior)? Very similar(even video and lyric concept similar).

Born in 91 here, so I feel that.

@@jgsrhythm100 don't sound very similar

@@scambammer6102 Similar ,tempo, instrumentation, vocal delivery, orchestration mood. , lyrical and video concept. Both great tracks, just saying the Verve were likely inspired by it. Verve are from UK so different accent

The 90's were my 30's and I liked the vibe, it was far better than the 80's in my opinion.

Inspired by "Collective Soul's "The World I Know" ( released 2 yrs prior)? Very similar(even the video concept similar).

It's the subtle changes in the background and gradual increase in vocal intensity that keep it interesting for me.

If you're interested , in music that's called an "ostinato".

@@Murdo2112 thanks love facts

The Rolling People and Catching the Butterfly are bangers.

Same

@@wolflarson71 Love both! Catching the Butterfly is my favorite song on the album.

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Exactly! It was so perfect for the end of that movie! I ended up buying the CD after watching it.

They didn't steal it. They bought the rights from Decca. Allen Klein, the a hole who screwed both the Stones and the Beatles, is the one who declined rights to the Verve. After he died in 2009, the Stones gave the rights to the Verve.

Whenever I need something consistent and positive, I listen to Richard Ashcroft's solo stuff.

Yes. His first solo album "Alone With Everybody" is excellent from beginning to end.

Radio's narrowed playlists are exactly why I can't stand it anymore--and I grew up wanting to work in radio, and then I did!! Even with a song this good, I would hate it by the end of one week.

I feel ya. I was in construction for many years and was forced to listen to "country" music for much of that time. There were always one or two songs that were kinda good (Don Williams, Jolene) that I would look forward to.

Really the orchestra's "riffing" wasn't Jagger's or Richards' doing. It was arranged for Andrew Loog Oldham's Orchestra to play.

It was a lot more than a riff that Ashcroft stole. The entire melody of the song is just a repeat of a unique chord progression in the Stones' song. Pure plagiarism. And to to the DJH weirdo who also responded to this, if Oldham had published the string arrangement under his own name, it would have been plagiarism on his part, too. But he was working for the Stones and got a paycheck from them to arrange one of their songs. Please don't talk about things you don't understand. Richards and Jagger got (and deserved) full publishing rights to the song after a court found Ashcroft didn't have a leg to stand on. It was nice of them to give the rights back 20 years later, no matter how stupid Ashcroft was when talking about them "stealing" from him. He's a complete joke.

@@facts2741 Bitter much...?

@@djhrecordhound4391 Not even a little. It's a fine song and well-produced...hard to go wrong with ripping off such a great song. Facts bother babies, I understand. Arrangers know their jobs and understand that arranging isn't the same thing as writing/composing. Maybe someday you'll be a big boy and understand that.

@@facts2741 -Troll alert

I would love to hear what that was all like! Jealous

The Stones returned the money they had got from the song in 2019.

Inspired by "Collective Soul's "The World I Know" ( released 2 yrs prior)? Very similar(even the video concept similar).

@@jgsrhythm100 Actually it's taken from an old Stone's song

@@alrivers2297 Just the Orchestra sample is.. How about everything else? Or even the idea of using orchestration ? Coincidence?

@@jgsrhythm100 I like this song and the video for it more the the Collective Soul ones.

@@alrivers2297There boh great , but my guess is the Verve were inspired by the Collective Soul track. The Colkective Soul Track was based on a man who commit Suicide in NYC. They have a very similar tone and feel. Both great

I never knew this. Thank you!

They had permission to use the sample, but Alan Klein claimed they used more than they agreed to. The Verve couldn't do anything at that point without pulling the album. Mick and Keith had nothing to do with the suit, and they finally made it right by giving the songwriting royalties back.

Didn't the Stones end up paying them?

@@loosilu Jagger, Richards and Andrew Oldham received the royalties for more than 20 years. The two Stones tried to give some back but Oldham kept all of his.

The same Allen Kline that screwed the Beatles.

The Stones dropped their lawsuit like a year or so ago and gave royalties to the Verve.

Weeping Willow is actually my favorite from the album

Catching the Butterfly is my favorite.

👍 “I can’t change …”

That same article calls the argument that the Stones should get full writing credit "patently absurd." The original deal was to give half credit, since Ashcroft wrote everything except the string sample.

Allen Klein's company ABKCO owns the publishing rights to the Rolling Stones 1960's catalog, including "The Last Time", a version of which spawned the sample used by The Verve. Klein did not sue so that Mick & Keef could have 100% of the royalties. He sued so HE could get the money.

Xtc is soooo underrated

Complicated game is one of my favorite songs

It's like the world forgets XTC, which is a HUGE shame.

@@KozmikZootz Totally agree. XTC was absolute genius.

If Guided By Voices ever makes it to this channel I will literally pass out. Going to see them in December.

Good call. I was just about to recommend PRG for similar 90s chill.

Standing Outside a Broken Phonebooth with Money in my Hand is an amazing song.

"Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" Pink Floyd.

Fiona Apple's 2nd Album title is a whole poem! LOL!!

I was about to ask which version, but then I realized it has to be the second one, lol.

Yes with Ryan Phillipe you even get to see his really cute ass.